MANKATO A long-standing family medicine residency program in Mankato will transition to a new educational affiliation in 2022, while continuing to bring up-and-coming physicians to the area.

The University of Minnesota medical school has sponsored the Mankato Family Medicine Residency Program since it started in the mid-1990s. Mayo Clinic Health Systems Eastridge clinic has been the site for the residents since 2005.

Eastridge will remain the site, but the program will switch to a Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education sponsorship in July 2022.

The move to bring the program under the Mayo Clinic umbrella will allow the health system to expand its educational capabilities in the southwest Minnesota region. The Mankato residency will join three other existing family medicine programs established in other regions in the health system.

The transition of the family medicine residency program further advances our Mayo Clinic Health System region into a three-shield organization that focuses on clinical care, research and education, said Dr. James Hebl, the health systems regional vice president, in a statement. The newly acquired residency program will allow us to pursue new and innovative educational opportunities while forming a deeper connection with our residents.

The partnership with the University of Minnesota is ending on a good note, said Dr. John McCabe, Mankatos residency program director.

Its just helpful to have one sponsoring institution and make it completely clear to all that our graduates are graduating from a Mayo program with training in a Mayo facility, McCabe said.

The University of Minnesotas release on what the transition will mean states itll lead to easier day-to-day functions because only one organization will be running it rather than two. The transition began with university residency faculty becoming Mayo Clinic employees in the summer.

The summer 2022 date is when the transition will be complete. Graduates after July 1, 2022 will then receive their completion certificate from Mayo Clinics graduate medical school.

The residency will remain a three-year program with five spots per year. More than 100 residents graduated from the program since it started, McCabe said, and the majority ended up working in southwest Minnesota or elsewhere in the state.

Physician shortages have long been a concern in rural areas, and residency programs can play an important role in retention. McCabe said the hope going forward will continue to be for residents to stay in the region once they finish the program.

Most of the time the majority of trainees end up in and around the region they train in, he said. That was one of the reasons the university had a program down here for such a long time.

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Mayo takes over sponsorship of residency in Mankato - Mankato Free Press